The United Kingdom Home Office International Operations, HOIO, has said its collaboration with Nigeria on the fight against substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking is yielding positive results as evident by the streak of successes being recorded by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in recent times.

Head of UK Home Office International Operations, Victoria Pullen stated this when she led her colleague, Kristoffer Hawksfield on a courtesy visit to the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd) to sign a renewed Memorandum of Understanding between HOIO and NDLEA in Abuja on Monday

While thanking Marwa for an “excellent cooperation”, Pullen said: “the issue of drug trafficking is a huge global issue, and like many big challenges such as drug trafficking, it takes a huge global effort to try and counter that. I think it’s evident by some of the recent successes and the volume of some of the illicit commodities that your teams are finding that that cooperation is working exceptionally well currently, and we are currently really enjoying working with your team on those successes.”

She said: “The willingness of your teams to work with us and do things differently and try things differently, which fortunately is leading to those successes, and we like the way that you’ve worked with the UK and the levels of engagement that we’ve enjoyed with the teams.”

She noted that the commissioning of the NDLEA Marine Command Headquarters built and donated by the UK government in Lagos last week was a significant marker in the cooperation between the agency and HOIO.

She said: “We look forward to seeing the results of that level of investment that will bring significant benefits to you in Nigeria by being able to stop those drugs from permeating your own society, and also in the global space because the more that we help you to interdict and take out of the system here, the less that’s going into countries around the world and into society.

“Our team has got nothing but very, very positive things to say about the relationship that we have with you and your teams, and we very much look forward to the future and building on those and making them a lot better.”

In his response, Marwa expressed appreciation to the UK government for supporting Nigeria’s efforts to curb the scourge of illicit drug trafficking especially with the building and donation of Marine Headquarters facility to the agency last week and a similar operational facility at the MMIA Command in Ikeja Lagos last year.

He said: “I am most delighted to meet Ms. Victoria Pullen in person, as it gives me the opportunity to express profound gratitude on behalf of myself, the agency and the country for the tremendous assistance, both tangible and intangible, that we have received from the Home Office International Operations (HOIO), in particular, and the British Government in general.

“Just last week, we commissioned the Marine Command Headquarters of NDLEA, built from scratch and donated by the Home Office International Operations. We have also received in the past a new CITF facility at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, also from the Home Office International Operations. These are in addition to others like training and intelligence that are vital to our counter-narcotics operations.

“Since we kicked off the reform of NDLEA three years ago, we have enjoyed an increasing partnership with the Home Office International Operations. Among our international partners the Home Office International Operations is one of our major partners whose contributions immeasurably enhance the capacity of NDLEA and invariably impact our performance positively”, he stated.

Marwa however asked for more support from the UK government. “We continue to seek more of your assistance in our quest to combat illicit drug trafficking on our shores and also to contribute to our common goal in fighting the activities of transnational criminal organizations. The new refreshed MOU, which we are about to sign after the remarks, is a testament to our strong partnership, and we are looking forward to boosting our existing relationship to help us achieve our common and shared responsibility of tackling the drug problem. Now, the NDLEA in the last three years or so has made tremendous impacts, and I must say that instrumental to that is the support from the UK.

“We have made, in three years, over 52,000 arrests. We have made seizures of over 8,000 tons of illicit substances, and convictions in excess of 9,000. That’s a very significant success in court. Given the volume of traffic of travellers between the UK and Nigeria, there is a need for sharing of intelligence and actionable data further collaboration in that respect will further strengthen our relationship. So, I excited that we’re signing a new MoU here today.”